YOUTH BASKETBALL: Adidas showcases top teen talent at Long Beach City College

Long Beach City College's Hall of Champions had an international flair on Monday evening, as the gym played host to the adidas Nations championship games. The annual event is held to showcase international youth talent on American soil, and adidas bills it as "the premier international grassroots basketball program."

International teams from Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and South America compete, alongside elite American youth teams. Typically, the U.S. makes it to the championship game, and that was the case this year as well, with USA Red and USA Blue facing off for the championship on Monday night, with USA Blue winning 81-77.

Because it's an international event, there was only player from the Long Beach area on either roster, St. John Bosco's Daniel Hamilton.

"It was a great experience, getting to meet people from other countries," Hamilton said after the game. "Plus it's always a blessing to play against the best." Hamilton, who had four points and four rebounds in 17 minutes of action, said many of the U.S. players exchanged information with the African and European players, who they'll stay in touch with via Twitter and other social media options.USA Red took a 38-32 lead into the locker room, thanks to Mater Dei's Stanley Johnson, who drained a straight-on 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded. But USA Blue battled back in the third quarter to take a 63-54 lead headed into the fourth quarter, overcoming Johnson and Jalil Okafor, the top players on the Red team and two of the top players in the nation.

Blue outscored Red 31-16 in the third frame. Red pulled to within two late in the game, but the Blue squad was able to hit its free throws down the stretch and capture the trophy.

Johnson (18 points, 11 rebounds) and Okafor (14 pts, eight rebounds) were the leaders in the game in a losing effort.

Earlier in the day, also in the Hall of Champions, the team representing Africa, with top recruits Sidy Ndir and Nehdi Ngouma, defeated the USA Junior team 69-56 for the third-place trophy.Since the event is one of adidas' biggest of the year, some of its NBA talent was on hand to shake hands and take in the game, featuring high school talent that may be playing against in the pros in two years.The players sitting courtside included Derrick Rose, John Wall and Jeff Teague. The games were also aired live on ESPNU.